


Ashes

by evilwriter37



Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: Funeral, Gen, character death au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-30
Updated: 2019-09-30
Packaged: 2020-11-08 10:35:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20834051
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/evilwriter37/pseuds/evilwriter37
Summary: The Light Fury can't save Hiccup in time and he dies when he hits the water.





	Ashes

They saw Hiccup hit the water after Grimmel, the Light Fury letting out a horrible cry at her miss. She hovered there above the water for a few moments before frantically diving in. It was a while before she came out, bearing a limp form that could only be Hiccup. She flew up to the cliff, put him down gingerly in front of the crowd of Vikings. Toothless was just waking up, lifting his head with bleary eyes to see his Rider. 

Astrid ran over as the Light Fury backed away, her legs eating up ground like they never had before.

“Hiccup!”

She knelt by him, grabbed hold of him, rolled him onto his back…

He wasn’t breathing. Looking at him up close she could tell that his neck had broken, probably upon impact with the water. From the height he’d fallen at it would have been like hitting stone. 

She screamed. There was no holding back the sound. It just wrenched itself from her chest and throat, a sound of shock and disbelief and desolation. She threw herself over Hiccup’s body, feeling like arrows were piercing her chest, a new one with every second. Her scream drew others over, and Toothless seemed to no longer be drowsy from the venom. He ran.

Astrid felt people gathering around her, Valka, Gobber, Eret, the rest of the Dragon Riders. No one seemed to know how to react. Hiccup, their chief, their friend, and in Valka’s position, her  _ son _ , was dead. 

Toothless’ reaction broke Astrid’s heart into more pieces. He curled up around Hiccup, nudged him as if that would wake him up, kept doing it, cooing at him, trying to rouse him from this deathly slumber. 

“He’s dead, Toothless!” Astrid found herself yelling at him. “He’s dead! Stop it!” She didn’t shove his nose away though, let him lick Hiccup’s pale face.

Finally, Toothless seemed to get it, and he let out a shriek that tore open the very air. He curled around Hiccup tighter, pulling him away from Astrid, from anyone. Astrid felt like it wasn’t fair. She’d loved Hiccup too. Why did Toothless get to have him all to himself?

But they’d been soulmates, Astrid realized. Hiccup and Toothless had been one, and now they would be without each other. The past day or so, Hiccup had been dealing with the fact that he would have to say goodbye to Toothless, and Toothless to him, but no one had thought that it would be like this, that their separation would be made because of death.

Everything felt so… pointless. They’d made this whole journey to get away from Grimmel, and now Hiccup was dead because of him. They had no chief now. They had no purpose. It was all just so meaningless.

The Light Fury came over to Toothless, nuzzled him on the shoulder, and Toothless didn’t even react. He was making low, mournful noises against Hiccup’s body. It was like he’d forgotten that the world around him existed, that he was the King of Dragons. He’d lost his best friend. 

Toothless laid like that for almost an hour, but finally, he was relinquishing Hiccup’s body to his friends and family, letting them fondly touch him for the last time. 

There was no way to set a boat ablaze for him, not from this high on the cliffs, so they built a funeral pyre. Toothless helped, carrying heavy logs. 

Astrid and Valka set Hiccup’s body atop the pyre, put his head straight, laid his hands folded over his stomach. Like this he almost looked like he could be sleeping. Astrid wished he was, wished she could just shake him awake and out of this.

Gods, now she was thinking of all the things they’d never gotten to do. They hadn’t gotten to build up this place as New Berk. They hadn’t gotten married. They hadn’t had children. They hadn’t grown old together. Instead, Hiccup was dead at 21, with no heirs, no legacy.

No, that wasn’t true. There was a legacy. He’d live on in his people, in this new home, in Toothless, in the dragons. He just wouldn’t be able to do it himself.

Astrid broke for the third time that day as she came in and kissed him on the lips. His lips were cold, so unlike how they were supposed to be. Valka kissed him on the forehead.

“Tell your father hello for me,” Valka said quietly.

Then she and Astrid were climbing off of the pyre, taking the torches that Eret, Gobber, Snotlout, Ruffnut, and Tuffnut held. They’d been the closest to Hiccup. It made sense that they would be the ones who would say the final goodbye.

They set it alight, and Astrid watched the fire leap to life on the pyre, watched as it engulfed Hiccup’s body. Flames rose into the night, carrying Hiccup’s spirit upwards to Valhalla. Her vision was blurry, as was no doubt the vision of everyone else around her. She couldn’t seem to stop her tears. It was like there wasn’t enough of them.

Toothless stood beside her, looking an instant away from jumping into the fire and joining Hiccup. Astrid put her hand on his shoulder, looked to him, and he met her gaze.

“Please don’t, Toothless,” she told him. She pressed her forehead to his. “You have so much to live for.”

Toothless made a mournful sound, but Astrid could tell that it was one of agreement. He wouldn’t end his life beside Hiccup’s. He would keep going, would let Hiccup’s spirit live on with him. And his kin. Astrid sniffled, glanced towards the Light Fury. She was on the other side of the pyre, on the edge of the cliff, watching the funeral. Every so often she would look back towards the sea. This wasn’t her home. She wasn’t going to stay here. And so neither was Toothless.

Astrid knew Toothless had to go, but it almost felt unfair. Why did a living memory of Hiccup have to be taken from her?

But no, it was for him, for the Light Fury, for the other dragons. This wasn’t their rightful home. The Hidden World was. Astrid was just glad that she’d gotten to see that beauty with Hiccup before his death, that they’d been able to experience its wonder together. 

Astrid and her friends stood their long after the pyre had stopped burning and Hiccup was nothing but ash. The moon stood tall and bright overhead, its light somehow accentuating the hollowness inside of them.

And then Stormfly nuzzled her. Astrid looked to her, hugged her hard, realizing that she was saying goodbye. Toothless was with the Light Fury at the edge of the cliff. She heard soft dragon sounds, murmurs from humans, quiet sobs. The dragons were saying goodbye. They were going to follow their king into the Hidden World, where they belonged.

“I love you, Stormfly,” Astrid told her. She unclipped her saddle and pulled it off of her. “I always will.” She stroked her on the face, met her intelligent eyes, then pressed her head to hers. “I hope you enjoy your new home.”

Stormfly nuzzled her affectionately, made a cooing sound that Astrid knew as her declaration of love, and then walked towards the cliff.

Astrid watched as the other dragons did so, as Toothless took one last look back at her. Then he lifted his wings and took off. The other dragons took to the air, hundreds following the lead of their king. They would go where he went, and they would be happy.

But, even as Astrid knew that, she felt so, so empty. Now, she was left with nothing but Hiccup’s ashes and the moon. 


End file.
